Fronto-Striatal Dynamic Connectivity is linked to Dopaminergic Motor Response in Parkinson’s Disease

Background Differences in dopaminergic motor response in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are related to specific PD subtypes. An important factor driving dopaminergic response might lie in the temporal dynamics in corticostriatal connections. Objectives The aim of this study is to determine if altered resting-state dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) is associated with dopaminergic motor response. Methods We assessed static and dFNC in 32 PD patients and 18 healthy controls (HC). Patients were subgrouped according to their dopaminergic motor response as low and high responders using a median split. Results Patients featuring high dopaminergic responses spent more time in a regionally more integrated state 1 compared to HC. Furthermore, dFNC between aMCC/dACC (anterior midcingulate cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) and putamen was lower in low responders during a more segregated state 2 and correlated with dopaminergic motor response. Conclusions Alterations in temporal dynamics of fronto-striatal connectivity might underlie treatment response in PD. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement LH, CG and GRF are funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - Project-ID 431549029 - SFB 1451 (project C05). MS is funded by the Koeln Fortune Program / Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne (grant number 453/2018), and the Else Kroener-Fresenius-Stiftung (grant number 2019_EKES.02) CEJD is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program (CCSP) / Faculty of Medicine / University of Cologne, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, FI 773/15-1) ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The ethics committee/IRB of the University Hospital Cologne gave ethical approval for this work. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.